U.S. stock index e-mini futures rose on Wednesday: Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 0.27 percent at 16,890, S&P 500 futures were up 0.33 percent at 1,969.5 and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.51 percent at 3,972.5.

** TWITTER INC, Tuesday close $38.59, +23.24 pct premarket

The company halted a slowdown in user-growth in the second quarter with the help of product tweaks and services built around the summer’s World Cup, assuaging concerns for now that the online messaging service had peaked.

** SPRINT CORP, Tuesday close $8, +3.25 pct premarket

The company reported higher-than-expected first-quarter revenue, as it expanded its high-speed coverage and came closer to completing a network upgrade that had caused a massive drop in customers.

** PFIZER INC, Tuesday close $29.73, -0.30 pct premarket

** BAXTER INTERNATIONAL INC, Tuesday close $76.34

Pfizer agreed to buy two of Baxter International’s vaccines and a part of a facility involved in their production for $635 million.

The biggest U.S. tire maker reported a lower-than-expected quarterly revenue, hurt by lower sales to automakers in North America and Latin America.

** BLACKBERRY LTD, Tuesday close $9.51, +0.95 pct premarket

The Canadian handset maker is buying a privately held German firm that specializes in voice and data encryption, BlackBerry said on Tuesday, in a bid to burnish its credentials with highly security-conscious clients like government agencies.

** GARMIN LTD, Tuesday close $57.58, +8.75 pct premarket

The company reported second-quarter revenue and profit above analysts’ estimates and it raised its full-year forecast as demand soared for its GPS-based fitness products.

The at-home soda maker reported better-than-expected second-quarter profit and revenue, helped by strong sales in Western Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

** HESS CORP, Tuesday close $99.42, +4.22 pct premarket

The oil and natural gas producer said it planned to form a publicly traded master limited partnership comprising its pipeline and storage assets in North Dakota’s Bakken oil shale field.

** COUSINS PROPERTIES INC, Tuesday close $12.73, -1.89 pct premarket

The real estate company said it would offer up to 18 million shares and would use the proceeds to fund the purchase of an office building in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cousins Properties had about 198.4 million shares outstanding as on June 30. The company reported a better-than-expected profit for the second quarter.

The company said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating its write-down of film inventory on “Turbo”.

** HOSPIRA INC, Tuesday close $51.9, +2.14 pct premarket

The pharmaceutical and medical device maker posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit due to higher sales of specialty injectable drugs, and the company raised its full-year forecast.

** MICROSOFT CORP, Tuesday close $43.885, +0.42 pct premarket

The company will launch its Xbox One gaming console in China on Sept. 23, making it the first foreign company to start selling consoles in the world’s third biggest gaming market after a ban on the devices was lifted this year.

The company reported a smaller second-quarter loss on Tuesday as steel prices improved, but the impact of bad weather, higher repairs and maintenance costs continued to weigh on earnings.

** AMAZON.COM INC, Tuesday close $320, +0.41 pct premarket

The company said on Wednesday it would invest a further $2 billion in India, a day after the country’s largest e-tailer Flipkart attracted $1 billion of fresh funds, raising the stakes in a nascent but fast-growing e-commerce sector.

** AMGEN INC, Tuesday close $123.31, +4.61 pct premarket

The company said on Tuesday it would cut up to 15 percent of its workforce and close plants in a series of moves aimed at reallocating resources as it prepared to introduce new medicines it hopes would drive future growth.

** NEWMONT MINING CORP, Tuesday close $25.54, +1.02 pct premarket

The company reported a marginal rise in second-quarter earnings on Tuesday due to an increase in gold and copper production during the quarter.

** ENDOCYTE INC, Tuesday close $6.12, +11.00 pct after market

The drug developer reported better-than-expected quarterly results, boosted by a tripling of revenue due to recognition of previously deferred collaboration revenue.

** RUBICON PROJECT INC, Tuesday close $10.22, +18.40 pct premarket

The online advertising service provider forecast current-quarter revenue above the average analyst estimate. The company said it expected higher revenue from its mobile ad exchange after it partnered with InMob.

The fall in the company’s second-quarter profit was less than expected as oil and natural gas production jumped in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus and Colorado’s Wattenburg shale regions, as well as in Algeria.

** AMERICAN EXPRESS CO, Tuesday close $91.71

The company reported a 9 percent rise in second-quarter profit as more customers used its credit cards in a recovering U.S. economy. Card member spending rose 9 percent globally to $258 billion, after adjusting for foreign currency.

** FAMILY DOLLAR STORES INC, Tuesday close $74.5

Activist investor Carl Icahn cut his stake in the company , a day after it agreed to be bought by rival discount chain Dollar Tree Inc for $8.5 billion.

** MASTERCARD, Tuesday close $75.89

The payment cards company said a new round of sanctions imposed by the West had no impact on its business in Russia.

** BOEING, Tuesday close $122.32

The company has this year raised by 7 percent its forecast for global demand for commercial airline pilots to 533,000 over the next 20 years, citing rising deliveries of aircraft and buoyant demand from the Asia Pacific.